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Monday, May 21, 2012

Maqluba, sometimes pronounced as Maaluba or Maglubais a traditional Levantine dish, believed to have originated in historic Palestine.
The dish includes a meat, rice and fried vegetables placed in a pot,
which is then flipped upside down when served, hence the name maqluba
which translates literally as "upside-down".

Maqluba is usually served with either plain yogurt and/or a simple Arabic salad of diced tomato, cucumber, lettuce, lemon juice and olive oil.

Ingredients

For the chicken broth

1 whole chicken, washed/cleaned

1 carrot, peeled and sliced longwise

1 small onion, peeled and cut in square

2 bay leaves

few cardamom pods

Method

Bring to boil chicken with carrot and onion. Allow to boil a little and start removing the foam it accumulated from time to time. After removing it, throw in the leaves and cardamom. Allow to boil and chicken to cook for around 40-45 minutes. When you think it has been cooked, remove the chicken to cool, and sift the broth to remove the cardamom and others. Once chicken is not hot anymore, start removing meat nicely into somehow thick pieces and set aside on a plate for later use.

For the rice

1 big cauliflower head

2 eggplants

2 cups of rice, uncooked (soak the rice for around 15min prior using it in hot water) (Preferably the Uncle Ben's long grain)

4 cups of chicken broth

1 and half teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of allspice

Salt

Pine nuts

Slices almonds

Method

Start cutting each cauliflower and wash them, put to drain, and start deep frying them until gold. Set aside.

While frying them, to save time, start peeling the eggplants and cut them in slices of around 2cm in thickness. Cut them on its wide side, not length. Brush each side of the piece and grill them. Some people fry them, but I think it soaks in so much oil I don't like it! Once grilled, set aside.

Pour in a pan around 3 tablespoon of oil. Pour the drained rice, and flip of 2min. Add 4 cups of chicken broth, and add the cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Once start boiling, lower heat, and cover. Allow to cook. It should take between 30-40min.

Once the rice is cooked, move them to a bowl for a while because you need to set up in the same pan you made the rice the other ingredients to be able to flip it and get the end product!

Start putting layers: starting from the chicken, then cauliflower, then eggplant, you can play and put them around the pan, finger pressing the eggplant for instance to stick a little on the pan. Put carefully the cooked rice on them evenly, and make a small pressure. Cover until its served.

Fry the pine nuts with a little of oil. Set aside. Then fry the almond slices and set aside as well. These are for decoration purposes and also adds tastes to the rice itself, but its optional!

Now for the serving stage, get a tray in a circle shape that can allow the rice to fit relaxed. I mean, allowing it to if it breaks down it doesn't fall off the tray. Carefully with a towel, place the tray on the pan, and quickly flip the rice, allowing it to feel that it went down the tray. Then carefully take out the pan, and sprinkle with the nuts.

Monday, May 14, 2012

This dish is called Fatteh and is a Lebanese main breakfast dish. It can
made a number of ways which include using chicken, rice, ground beef.
It is known for containing all the essential vitamins needed to start
the day. This dish goes back to early Lebanese history and is widely
known around the Middle East.

Garlic
flavored yogurt is poured over boiled chickpeas and topped with fried
bits of pita bread and fried pine nuts. It can be served as part of an
extensive Lebanese breakfast or as a side dish.

Ingredients

5 cups of fried pita pieces

1 can of chickpeas

250 gr of ground beef

1/3 cup of fried pine nuts

5 cups of unflavored yogurt

3 tbsp of tahini (sesame seed paste)

2 mashed garlic cloves

Salt

Cumin

Cinnamon

Oil to fry

Method

First of all cut the pita breads in small squares, I use a kitchen scissor, its size must be around 3cm on all sides. You can cut them by hand if its easier. Deep fry them for few minutes until golden. Remove and set on kitchen tissue to drink up the oil on them.

You can fry the pine nuts to be set aside as well. Put around 1tbsp of canola oil, and dry them until golden. Set aside for later use.

Boil a little the chickpeas. I usually do that for 1-2minutes only. Remove and drain them. Pour them in a plate and mix on them gently cumin, the more the better!- Set aside.

Mix the the yogurt with the tahini, garlic, pinch of salt, and set aside as well.

Now lets fry the meat. Just put around 1-2 tbsp of oil and add salt, and if you want any other spices like pepper, cumin, whatever you want. Fry until cooked. Set aside.

Now the assembling part: In a pirex (rectangular dish) place evenly the pita bread, then sprinkle all chickpeas, then add evenly all around the yogurt sauce, then sprinkle also evenly cinnamon (this gives amazing taste) then add all beef around, finally sprinkle pine nuts.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Brazil carries a lot of good recipes! First we met the Brigadeiros and now we meet Brigadeirão. Brigadeirão has a similar taste as Brigadeiros but I have to confess it is less sweet. This dessert is served cold.. I made it 24 hours prior cutting it, and it is the best because it hardens and its shape gets to be better. Do not miss this, you have to do it, and all you need to do is blend, and bake!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

This cake is super delicious. A perfect breakfast, tea, snack, brunch, dessert, you name it! The coffee flavor with the cinnamon and chocolate creates this delicious taste that you wouldn't want to miss!

Frosting6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 piecesGetting Ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter an
8-inch square baking pan and line the bottom with parchment or wax
paper. Place the pan on a baking sheet.To Make the Cake: Stir 2 tablespoons of the sugar, 2 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon and the espresso together in a small bowl.In
a large bowl, whisk together the flour, the remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar,
the baking powder, salt and the remaining 1 tablespoon cinnamon. In
another bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and vanilla. Pour the
liquid ingredients over the flour mixture and gently whisk until you
have a homogenous batter. Now, using the whisk or a rubber spatula,
fold in the butter with a light touch, just until the butter is
absorbed. You'll have a smooth, shiny batter.Scrape half of the
batter into the pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle the chocolate over
the batter and dust with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Cover with the
rest of the batter and smooth the top again.Bake for 35 to 40
minutes, or until the cake is puffed and beginning to pull away from the
sides of the pan; a thin knife inserted into the center will come out
clean. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it rest for 15
minutes before unmolding it onto another rack. Peel off the paper,
invert it onto the first rack, and cool to room temperature right side
up.To Make the Frosting: Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and fit the bowl over a
saucepan of simmering water. Cook, stirring gently and often, just
until they melt. Be careful not to overheat the mixture so much that it
thins out; the chocolate should be smooth, very shiny, thick and
spreadable. (If it thins, leave the frosting at room temperature for a
bit, until it thickens a little.)Using an offset metal icing
spatula or a table knife, spread the frosting in generous sweeps and
swirls over the top of the cake. Allow the frosting to set at room
temperature, then cut the cake into 9 squares, each about 2 1/2 inches
on a side.

Monday, May 7, 2012

This is a quick tropical salad that can be make anytime as a side dish, or even a snack. It has this sweet and sour taste that you will get addicted to. Trust me, you must try it! You can play around with the quantity of the ingredients, some might add more pine nuts, others more avocado, it depends, just the way you like it. You are the boss here! :D

Sunday, May 6, 2012

We like lasagna at home soooooo much I cannot even describe it. We usually eat the bolognese one, and my mom makes the chicken one but it seems so complicated I just don't bother.. and then pops up this recipe from this amazing website and what a great way to have a meatless day! It gets boring to have or chicken, beef, fish, too boring... so here is a break!

Mix everything together (everything but the lasagna and Mozzarella), and place in oven to roast for around 20-30min.

If the lasagna you are using needs to be cooked, please follow directions in the package.

For the Bechamel sauce:

1 L of milk

3 tbsp of butter

3 tbsp of flour

Salt

Ground nutmeg

Method

Heat and melt butter, pour flour and mix quickly, add milk, do not stop whisking. Add salt and nutmeg. You can add cream for extra flavor - sometimes I do.

Bring to boil and until thick. Turn off and keep aside.

Also it is great with the ricotta mix, but I just didn't have in hand.

For the red sauce, I had a ready made marinara sauce, half of the bottle though, so it was a great thing to use it up.

Setting up the lasagna:

Pour a little of the bechamel sauce at the bottom and start putting layers of lasagna (I used lasagna that doesn't need to be cooked) then set up layers of roasted veggies, marinara sauce, bechamel, and so on, and cover up with mozzarella cheese and bake until cooked.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

I have posted before a delicious recipe for Brazilian beef strogonoff. Which is basically a delicious traditional plate in Brazil. It contains cream as its main ingredients but what makes the taste super delicious is that it has mustard and ketchup in the mix! The only difference with between the beef version and this chicken one is the main ingredient which is using chicken here and also something else is that we use here tomato paste whereas in the beef one we use tomato. To check the beef version please go here

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About Me

My name is Susana, I am married and have two gorgeous kids whom I adore! I am a working mom but in my free time I love cooking. I want to share my cooking with people and know what they think of it!
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